DUINC DWI News
Governor Announces Arrest Totals for North Carolina DWI
Gov. Mike Easley releases numbers from Halloween campaign against drunk driving in North Carolina.
North Carolina Governor Mike Easley announced the impact of the four-day Halloween ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign against motorists suspected of driving while intoxicated. State and local law enforcement agencies netted a total of 743 NC DWI arrests between October 30 and November 2.
As part of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, law enforcement officers conducted over 2,000 sobriety checkpoints and dedicated DWI patrols. The counties with the highest number of arrests for drunk driving in North Carolina were Pitt with 68 arrests, Wake with 41 and Mecklenburg with 31.
A total of 18,913 traffic and criminal citations were issued across the state during the campaign for seat belt violations, speeding, drugs possession and child safety violations. 112 fugitives were apprehended and 19 stolen cars were recovered.
Arrested for DWI in North Carolina? Contact a NC DWI lawyer today for help.
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Police Start North Carolina DWI Campaign over Halloween Weekend
Five day effort over Halloween weekend aimed at reducing drunk driving in North Carolina.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have started a campaign to crackdown on drivers suspected of drunk driving in North Carolina. Called the ‘Halloween Booze It and Lose It’ campaign, the effort started Wednesday night with a four hour checkpoint. Between 11:00 pm and 3:00 am, police arrested three drunk drivers and issued 51 traffic citations.
The checkpoints will continue for a total of five days, and they will be scattered around the city.
Police Officer Charged with North Carolina DWI in Raleigh
Trooper was speeding on motorcycle when charged with drunk driving in NC.
Christopher M. Harmon, a Raleigh police officer, was charged with driving while intoxicated in North Carolina after being pulled over for speeding. Harmon was riding a motorcycle shortly before 2:00 am when he was stopped for going 66 in a 45 mph zone.
The arresting officer noticed the strong presence of alcohol on Harmon’s breath and the arrest report said Harmon had glassy eyes and mumbled speech. A breath test revealed a blood alcohol level of .11%, well above the .08% legal limit for intoxication in North Carolina.
Harmon was charged with North Carolina DWI, speeding and operating a motorcycle without the proper license. He was booked at the Wake County jail and released with the written promise to appear in court next month. The Raleigh police department has not commented on the case.
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Police Chief Charged with North Carolina DWI
Navassa police chief arrested for driving while intoxicated in Brunswick County, North Carolina.
Navassa Police Chief Ricky Junior Thorpe was arrested for drunk driving in North Carolina after a single car accident in rural Brunswick County. Thorpe crossed the center line, struck a speed limit sign and ended up in a ditch while driving an unmarked patrol car.
A county sheriff's office trooper drove past the accident and radioed for a tow truck. Emergency Services then contacted the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Thorpe had left the scene before troopers arrived, though Thorpe was contacted and arrested at his nearby home. He was charged with driving while intoxicated around 4:45 am. A breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.27%, more than three times the legal limit for intoxication in North Carolina.
It is not known if Thorpe, 44, was on-duty at the time of the accident. The Navassa Town Council suspended him without pay, pending an investigation by town officials. In 2004, Thorpe was implicated in an embezzlement operation for diverting hundreds of dollars from a drug bust. He was prosecuted though he was required to enroll in additional law enforcement training for ethics and administrative issues.
Arrested for DWI in North Carolina? You will need to hire a NC DWI lawyer.
Number of Violations for North Carolina DWI Listed
Operation Firecracker over July 4th holiday nets nearly 2,000 cases of drunk driving in North Carolina.
Governor Mike Easley announced that the ‘Booze It & Lose It: Operation Firecracker’ campaign netted 1,986 violations for driving while intoxicated in North Carolina. The joint effort by state and local law enforcement agencies was conducted over the extended Fourth of July holiday.
A total of 66,738 traffic and criminal citations were issued for speeding, seatbelt violations, drug possession, child passenger safety violations, as well as drunk driving. As part of the governor’s Highway Traffic Safety Program, Operation Firecracker ran between June 27 and July 6 and more than 5,724 sobriety checkpoints and drunk driving patrols were conducted statewide. The counties with the most North Carolina DWI offenses were Wake (132) and Mecklenburg (114).
Have you been arrested for DWI in North Carolina?
Governor Announces North Carolina DWI Crackdown
‘Operation Firecracker’ targets drunk driving in North Carolina over Fourth of July weekend.
Governor Mike Easley has announced ‘Operation Firecracker’, an effort to crack down on motorists driving while intoxicated in North Carolina during the Fourth of July weekend. Law enforcement agencies across the state will be conducting sobriety checkpoints and increasing roving patrols, looking for drunk drivers.
The governor said that the extended Fourth of July weekend is one of the deadliest for travel, and ‘Operation Firecracker’ is intended to make the highways safer. In 2007, there were 60 vehicle related fatalities over the Independence Day holiday, and 21 involved alcohol.
‘Operation Firecracker’ is part of the ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign, and it will be conducted between Friday, June 27 and Sunday July 6. During last year’s Fourth of July crackdown more than 6,173 patrols and checkpoints were held targeting drunk driving in North Carolina.
Have you been arrested for Drunk Driving in North Carolina?
County Seeks Ways to Reduce North Carolina DWI Cases
Group meets to address issue of drunk driving in Richmond County, NC.
A community advisory panel recently met with representatives of the Mount Olive College to discuss ways of reducing driving while intoxicated in Richmond County, North Carolina. The college is currently undertaking a drinking and driving study for the North Carolina Strategic Prevention Framework Project, and the meeting looked at ways to use a grant of $100,000 for three consecutive years that targets drunk driving.
Richmond County is one of 18 counties selected for consideration in the program because of high rates of alcohol related traffic fatalities and injuries. The study has established two primary goals for the program; to gain maximum public awareness of the dangers of drunk driving in North Carolina and to facilitate prosecution of DWI cases in court. Secondary goals include the public release of the results of NC DWI checkpoints and addressing sources of illegal alcohol distribution. These goals will be packaged in a ‘responsible living’ ad campaign that could include flyers, bumper stickers, billboards and brochures.
The Mount Olive College/Richmond County proposal is subject to approval of the North Carolina Strategic Prevention Framework grant office, and must meet its criteria for reducing DWI injuries and deaths in the county.
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BATmobiles check for North Carolina DWI
Mobile labs make for quicker processing of suspected drunk driving in North Carolina.
The Forensic Tests for Alcohol branch of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has implemented mobile labs for on-scene processing of motorists suspected of drinking and driving in North Carolina.
The six Breath Alcohol Testing labs or BATmobiles are converted school busses that sport slogans like ‘Booze it and lose it’ and ‘.08 - It's the law.’ They are equipped with breath-testing equipment to determine a suspect’s blood alcohol content, a phone for suspects to call an attorney and a toilet. Being able to test for drunk driving from remote locations speeds up the process and allows law enforcement to test more motorists. It also allows for the testing of blood alcohol content at the time a motorist is suspected of driving drunk in North Carolina, rather than potentially hours later.
The Batmobiles are used throughout the state to combat North Carolina DWI. The BATmobile program was started in 1996, and the FTA added the latest vehicle to the fleet a couple of years ago at a cost of about $250,000. The special vehicles are funded with grants from the Governor's Highway Safety program.
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N.C. Law to Help Identify DWI Offenders
New law will require defendants to be photographed and fingerprinted
North Carolina recently enacted new legislation that will require DWI defendants to be photographed and fingerprinted. The law stems from an endemic problem with drunk driving suspects giving false names when arrested. Law enforcement authorities throughout the state will have access to the data in an effort to identify repeat offenders.
The state has found numerous instances of drivers charged with misdemeanor DWI providing different names and personal information when arrested. The drunk driving suspects then simply did not show up for their court dates. Previously only those charged with a felony were photographed and fingerprinted.
The identification program puts together photographs and any additional information on DWI suspects who fail to appear in court and provides them to law enforcement agencies. District Attorney Ron Moore said “We have a lot of people on our highways who are not properly licensed and driving drunk, and we have not had the system in place to try to identify them.” He felt the new law will provide a “powerful tool for law enforcement.”
The new North Carolina DWI law will go into effect October 1, 2007.
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North Carolina Judge Dismisses DWI Against Woman
Arresting trooper violated the woman’s constitutional rights
A North Carolina Superior Court judge in Raleigh dismissed the charge of DWI against a woman after determining the arresting officer was not a credible witness.
What precipitated the decision was a courtroom challenge to the traffic stop that lead to the drunk driving arrest and a disturbing pattern activity by one Highway Patrol officer. Trooper Scott Harrison has been suspected of targeting young women while on patrol. He often would patrol alone at night, focusing on an area near a college campus. Records show 49% of Harrison's DWI arrests involved women, compared to a statewide average of 18 percent. Harrison is on administrative duty while the state highway patrol investigates.
In dismissing the case, the Wake County judge stated that the traffic stop in question was “unconstitutional and unlawful” and called Harrison "not trooper material" if there was a pattern to his arrest procedure. The judge's words caught the attention of North Carolina Highway Patrol officials who are concerned about the public perception of the department.
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